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Toast your fortitude in this unprecedented year with a bubbly cocktail

A trio of bubbly cocktails is perfect for an end-of-the-year celebration for one.
A trio of bubbly cocktails is perfect for an end-of-the-year celebration for one.
(Silvia Razgova / For The Times; prop styling by Kate Parisian)
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If you’re thinking, “A piece on sparkling wine for the year-end holidays, how original,” same. But nothing about this year has been familiar and, as 2020 extends into its final month, there is a strong case for seeking comfort in the traditions we can safely keep.

Enter bubbly-based drinks. While it’s not the year for bathtubs filled with ice and bottles of wine, shared noisemakers or lack of personal space, the practice of raising a fizzing glass to cap the year’s finish stands. These sparkling cocktails aren’t intended to reinvent the holiday wheel but rather to retain a celebratory feel while upping the ABV — alcohol by volume — because, well, 2020 has earned it.

Start with the bubbles themselves. For many, popping something on a special occasion equals Champagne. A valid practice, but sparkling wine isn’t solely France’s game. Quality, highly drinkable sparkling wines are created in a wide spectrum of styles and tastes from nearly every winemaking region and serve the same festive agenda. Many also come in at a lower price point than classic Champagne — an added plus when mixing into drinks. A few options to seek out: Prosecco, Franciacorta, cava, pétillant naturel (also labeled pét-nat), Sekt (care of Germany and Austria), domestic sparkling wines and Lambrusco.

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If your celebration is decidedly smaller or you’d simply like to move onto other things after a mixed drink or two, seek out cans or a mini (also called a “split”) bottle. If you do choose a full-size bottle of bubbles and opt to save part of it, keep the bottle chilled in the refrigerator with a Champagne stopper or metal spoon in the open top and drink within a day — or two, at most.

Once you have chosen your bubbles, break out the jigger and select your sparkling cocktail based on how far you want to stray from tradition.

Bubbles à l’Orange employs a classic sparkling wine. The mix of amaro and Cognac anchors its buoyancy while orange Curaçao lends sweetness. Lambrusco on the Rocks taps into a hearty red sparkling wine. Served on the rocks, it boldly mimics the spritz if the spritz had the collective 2020 experience and was in need of a heavyweight combination of reposado tequila, red bitter liqueur and vermouth. Finally, the Dirty G.L.T. omits sparkling wine altogether in favor of tonic and drinks as if a gin and tonic went home with a dirty martini — complete with a snack-sized portion of olives.

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Whatever this past year looked like for you and however altered the traditions may be as you toast its departure, raise an effervescent toast to the end of it.

Bubbles a l'Orange

Time 5 minutes
Yields Makes 1 drink

Lambrusco on the Rocks

Time 5 minutes
Yields Makes 1 drink
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Dirty G.L.T.

Time 5 minutes
Yields Makes 1 drink
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